HMD Global’s Nokia 5.3 is among the few new phones that are part of the Android One program. It starts at Rs. 13,999 in India and runs on Android. That’s not all, it comes with the promise of two years of major Android version updates and three years of security updates, which smartphones in the budget segment often don’t get. Is the standard Android experience the only thing offered with the Nokia 5.3? I check it to find out.
Nokia 5.3 design – built to last
Budget smartphones have to cut corners, and the materials and build quality come first. Smartphones at this price are generally made of plastic, and the Nokia 5.3 is no exception here. However, it doesn’t feel cheap by any means. It looks like the Nokia 5.3 should be able to take a few bumps and still perform.
There is Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on the screen which should help prevent scratches. I like the large 6.55-inch screen on the Nokia 5.3, and knowing that it has some kind of protection is reassuring. It’s sharp enough with its HD + resolution, although this isn’t the highest resolution you’ll get at this price. HMD Global has opted for a 20: 9 panel which is good for viewing videos in landscape mode, but getting to the top when using this phone with one hand is not easy. There’s a dewdrop-shaped notch at the top that houses an 8-megapixel selfie camera.
HMD Global has included a 4,000mAh battery in the Nokia 5.3 and managed to limit the thickness of the device to 8.5mm. As a result, the Nokia 5.3 doesn’t feel bulky in the hand. At the back, it has a four-camera setup in a ring-shaped module. This stands out, as the competition uses pill-shaped or square camera modules.
The power button has a built-in notification light
The Nokia 5.3 also has a dedicated Google Assistant button. You can disable it, but there is no official option to reassign it to some other role. There are apps on the Play Store that should allow you to remap them if you want. I also found the notification light on the power button to be a nice touch. Press when you have pending notifications.
In the box, you get a pair of headphones, which aren’t included with most budget phones these days. You will also get a case and a 10W charger. I would recommend that you use the case because the Charcoal colored unit that I had picked up stains very easily. Nokia also offers two other color options, Cyan and Sand.
Nokia 5.3 Specifications and Software – Android One
When you look at the specs, there is nothing out of the ordinary that catches your eye. HMD Global has chosen the Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC to power the Nokia 5.3. This is a well known processor and it has been powering other smartphones like the Redmi Note 8 (Review). There are two variants of the Nokia 5.3 for sale. The basic variant offers 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage, while the highest offers 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. These are priced at Rs. 13,999 and Rs. 15,499 respectively. It had the 4GB RAM variant for this review.
In terms of software, you get Android 10. The Android One program means that the Nokia 5.3 does not have any pre-installed bloatware and the user interface is very similar to what you will find on Google Pixel smartphones. I like the clean stock experience, but if you prefer additional features, this phone may not immediately impress you. Since there are no customizations, it didn’t take me long to get used to the interface. Gesture navigation is enabled by default, but you have the option to revert to the traditional three-button navigation layout.
The tall display of the Nokia 5.3 has a dewdrop notch at the top
When I unpacked the smartphone, it was running the May Android security patch, but it received three updates, leading to the current August security patch. This is a good sign and if HMD Global keeps this focus, you can expect the Nokia 5.3 to be up to date with security patches for three years.
There are some basic gestures on the Nokia 5.3. You can slide the rear fingerprint scanner to lower the notification shade and double-press the power button to launch the camera app. In general, if you prefer stock Android, you will like the Nokia 5.3.
Nokia 5.3 performance: decent performer
After using the Nokia 5.3 for a few days, I can say that it handles normal daily use with ease. Calling, messaging, and social media apps aren’t a problem, and you can multitask with each other quite easily. I didn’t notice any slowdowns while using the smartphone. The tall display has decent viewing angles and becomes bright enough outdoors. I found the speaker to be quite loud too.
I ran our set of benchmarks to see where the Nokia 5.3 stands in comparison to some of the other smartphones at this price. In AnTuTu, the Nokia 5.3 managed to score 167,750 points. It also scored 312 and 1399 points respectively in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core tests. As for the GFXBench graphics benchmark, the phone managed 50fps and 13fps in the T-Rex and Car Chase tests respectively.
The Nokia 5.3 feels well built
I played PUBG Mobile on the Nokia 5.3, and by default it had “Smooth” graphics and “Medium” frame rate. I could raise the graphics settings to “Balanced” but the HD option was not available. Playing on the highest setting I saw occasional stuttering, but the game performed fine on the lowest setting. If you play for longer, the back of the phone becomes warm to the touch.
The 4,000 mAh battery capacity of the Nokia 5.3 is slightly lower than the competition’s average. You’ll get a full day of battery life, but you’ll need to plug it in the next day. In our HD video loop test, the smartphone managed 11 hours and 50 minutes, which is decent given the size of the battery. You get a 10W charger in the box, so charging isn’t very fast by today’s standards. It took the phone to 30 percent in half an hour and 56 percent in an hour. The full charge of the phone took about two hours. I would have liked a faster load.
Nokia 5.3 cameras: average cameras
The Nokia 5.3 has a four camera setup like most other smartphones at this price on the market. It has a 13-megapixel main camera sensor with an aperture of f / 1.8, a 5-megapixel ultra-wide camera, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The camera app is very simple and easy to use. It has scene detection that is quick to determine where the camera is pointing.
In photo mode, the Nokia 5.3 takes 13 megapixel photos. In daylight, photos lacked dynamic range, and fine grain was visible in the output when zoomed. Photos taken with the wide-angle camera were lower in resolution and grainy as well.
Nokia 5.3 daytime camera sample (tap to view full size image)
Nokia 5.3 daylight wide-angle camera sample (tap to view full-size image)
The Nokia 5.3 handled close-ups better, with good details and a soft depth effect for the background. Portrait shots taken with the Nokia 5.3 had good edge detection, and the camera app lets you set the blur level before taking a photo. I found the macro camera to be strictly average, and a subject needs to be well lit for shots to come out looking decent.
Nokia 5.3 close-up camera sample (tap to view full size image)
Nokia 5.3 portrait camera sample (tap to view full size image)
Nokia 5.3 macro camera sample (tap to view full size image)
Low light shots were below average and lacked good detail. There was grain in the output here too, which was visible when zoomed in. Some photos also lacked sharpness. Turning on Night mode improved brightness and sharpness, but photos still appeared grainy.
Nokia 5.3 low light camera sample (tap to view full size image)
Nokia 5.3 night mode camera sample (tap to view full size image)
The selfies taken with the Nokia 5.3 were decent in daylight and it gives you the option of taking portraits. In low light there is a slight drop in quality, but it is somewhat acceptable.
Nokia 5.3 selfie camera sample (tap to view full size image)
Video recording maxes out at 4K for the main camera and 1080p for the selfie camera. Images taken with the Nokia 5.3 are not stabilized at any resolution and end up being shaky. Video quality isn’t that good in low light either.
The Nokia 5.3’s camera performance is not very good overall, and you may get better results with other phones at this price point.
Verdict
The Nokia 5.3 is aimed at the sub-Rs. 15,000 price segment, with the main attraction of Android stocks and the promise of software updates. This device should be kept up to date for longer than the competition, so it will suit the needs of people who do not want to change their phone very frequently. It’s not the best performer at the moment, though, and will lag further behind as other companies release newer models.
The camera performance is not the best and hopefully some software tweaks can improve it. If you are a heavy user or looking to play a lot of games, you may want to consider more powerful and similarly priced alternatives, such as the Realme 6i (Review) and Redmi Note 9 Pro (Review).
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